Isoëtaceae

(Quillwort Family)

Habit

semi-aquatic perennial herbs with dichotomously branched roots

Stems

simple, corm-like

Leaves

simple, long, grass-like

Sporangia

dissimilar ( heterosporous); solitary at base of leaf gametophytes develop in spore wall

Diversity

1 genus / ca. 150 species (1 in Arizona)

Distribution

cosmopolitan

Economics

none

Notes

species difficult to identify--need to examine spores

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Images

• Vascular Plant Image Gallery (Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group)
• Image on this page from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz.
  1885, Gera, Germany scanned by Kurt Stuber